Apr 3, 2014 - Discussion: SMS appointment reminders improve patient satisfaction and provide a low ... Care Innovation Award grant from the Center for.
eGEMs Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes
eGEMs Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes
Appointment reminders by text message in a safety net health care system: a pragmatic investigation Henry H. Fischer; Susan L. Moore; Tracy L. Johnson; Rachel M. Everhart, PhD; Holly Batal; Arthur J. Davidsoni
ABSTRACT Introduction: Short Message Service (SMS) appointment reminders may provide a wide-reaching, low cost approach to reducing operational inefficiencies and improving access to care. Previous studies indicate this modality may improve attendance rates, yet there is a need for large-scale, pragmatic studies that include unintended consequences and operational costs. Methods: This pragmatic investigation was a before-after analysis that compared visit attendance outcomes among patients who opted into SMS appointment reminders with outcomes among those who declined over an 18-month evaluation period from March 25, 2013, to September 30, 2014. Eligibility in our integrated safety net health care system included age greater than 17, English or Spanish as a primary language, and a cell phone number in our scheduling system. Results: 47,390 patients were invited by SMS to participate, of which 20,724 (43.7 percent) responded with 18,138 opting in (81.5 percent of respondents). Participants received SMS reminders for 77,783 scheduled visits; comparison group patients (N=72,757) were scheduled for 573,079 visits during the evaluation period. Intervention and comparison groups had, respectively, attendance rates of 72.8 percent versus 66.1 percent (p
